Rural Health
Research Gateway

Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs)

Completed Projects

Listed by project completion date. You can also view these projects alphabetically.

2025

  • Third Party Negotiated Pricing in Rural and Urban Hospitals
    We used third party negotiated pricing information to compare prices in urban and rural hospitals, across a variety of common services. Because there has been poor compliance with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) requirement to publish third party negotiated pricing, we also examined if the availability of this information differs for rural and urban hospitals.
    Research center: Rural and Underserved Health Research Center
    Topics: Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs), Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), Healthcare financing, Hospitals and clinics, Medicare, Medicare Prospective Payment System (PPS), Private health insurance

2022

  • Northern Border Regional Commission State and Region Chartbooks: A Health-Focused Landscape Analysis
    The aim of this study was to compile the most recent publicly available data related to health and healthcare access at the county-level and state-level for the Norther Border Region and the individual states: ME, NH, VT, and NY. We highlighted counties with worse health outcomes, as compared to the rest of the counties in the region.
    Research center: Maine Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), Rural Health Clinics (RHCs), Rural statistics and demographics, Social determinants of health, Substance use and treatment, Telehealth, Uninsured and underinsured, Workforce

2019

  • Identification of High-Need Rural Counties Lacking an FQHC Presence
    Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) have been key safety net providers since the program was initiated. However, many rural communities lack this resource. Expanding on the index of relative rural deprivation developed by the University of South Carolina Rural Health Research Center, we identified high-need rural counties that currently are not served by an FQHC or similar provider.
    Research center: University of South Carolina Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs), Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), Rural Health Clinics (RHCs)

2015

  • Early Rural Experiences of Changes to Medicaid
    This project will 1) develop baseline state-level snapshots of rural enrollment in Medicaid and 2) estimate and model enrollment expansion in each state. We will also conduct a baseline provider key informant interviews in late 2013 to gauge expected effects, with follow up interviews in Summer 2014 as a sentinel warning system of early effects of changes to Medicaid in order to inform timely policy development.
    Research center: North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center
    Topics: Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), Hospitals and clinics, Medicaid and CHIP

2010

  • Safety Net Activities of Independent Rural Health Clinics
    This national study will investigate and describe the safety net role of independent Rural Health Clinics (RHC). It will further examine the market effect of Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) on the safety net role of independent RHCs at the county level.
    Research center: Maine Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), Rural Health Clinics (RHCs)

2009

  • Effect of Safety Net Providers on Ambulatory Care Sensitive Hospitalization Rates in Rural Counties
    This project will determine if the presence of a community health center or rural health clinic in a county reduces ambulatory care sensitive hospitalizations for children, working age adults, and older adults.
    Research center: University of South Carolina Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Chronic diseases and conditions, Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), Health services, Poverty, Rural Health Clinics (RHCs)

2006

  • Rural Health Center Expansion and Recruitment Survey
    This collaborative project between WWAMI and the South Carolina Rural Health Research Centers examined and described the current staffing needs of rural health centers (RHCs), ascertained the staffing, recruitment, and retention issues that RHC CEOs regard as most critical; distinguished how issues differ between CEOs contemplating development of expansion sites versus those who are not; and described how these findings correlate with the literature and current national supply projections for the categories of health professions needed by the RHCs.
    Research centers: University of South Carolina Rural Health Research Center, WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), Rural Health Clinics (RHCs), Workforce

2001

  • Describing the Health Care Infrastructure in Rural Towns
    Research center: North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center
    Topics: Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), Hospitals and clinics, Physician assistants, Physicians, Rural Health Clinics (RHCs), Rural statistics and demographics

2000